Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Strawberry Salad with PeptoBismol Dressing

Me: More like Pink Eye.I don’t know where to look. It has no focus and no place for the eyes to rest.

Scrap Bag - Good, Bad & Ugly

Let's start at the very beginning. Shall we?

One fine day
as I was browsing the World Wide Web, I came upon Hawthorne Threads and noticed
their Scrap Bags in the sale section.

Strips Grouped

Ignorance & Temptation is an ugly combination. Next thing, I ordered
a few of the Fresh Scrap Bags. When they arrived, they were just that – a mixed
bag. Some were very pretty fabrics, some very ugly fabrics and some just in
between – but all pink.

The first block

I figured, if
I cut them up and put them together, they may come to something.

When I had made
the Paulitiks quilt, I felt it was just too blue. May be if I made that pattern
scrappy and pink.

There was only
one way to find out. I cut up most of the pink scrap bag into 2” strips and
started playing.

Hot Mess

Made a few
blocks. Made a few more blocks and realized that it was too pink. May be I should
add a little teal/turquoise/aqua.

A touch of teal

After I had
made a dozen blocks, I realized that it was too pink, too scrappy, too
disgusting and had absolutely no focus. I was devastated. But I was also
determined to finish it. The uglier the project the more likely it will end up
as a UFO. I could not let that happen because 2016 is my year of destroying
UFOs.

Some red

So I marched
along like a soldier on a mission. When it was finished, I HATED it. Wish I had
used some neutrals in each block to balance the pink.

Does white help?

As I was arranging
the strips, I tried to place the low volume fabric between the two high volume
ones. This worked fine for each block but when I placed the blocks together,
the high volume fabrics ended up adjacent to each other, making it look very
busy.

Low Volume between High Volume Strips

Further, the low volume middle strip, distanced the center square from
the outer strip making the whole block disjointed.

I had a finished flimsy and no desire to quilt it. Fortunately Mauna stopped by.

Mauna: What are you working on?

Me: It is a strawberry salad with Pepto-bismol dressing.It is grossly pink. Not pretty and pink. Not Blush & Bashful. Just in your face sickly pink. And I showed her the finished flimsy.

Chic?

Mauna: I don’t
think so.Imagine a little girl’s room
that is painted very light yellow and is completely plain and then on the wall
there is this quilt.It is shabby chic
and modern. It is something you might see in one of these modern lifestyle
stores.

Me: Really?Mauna: Trust me, this will make some little girl so very happy.

Backing Fabric

Whatever Mauna said made ME very happy and this strawberry salad of a quilt began to grow on me. I picked a backing and a matching binding.

Teal/Turquoise Binding

Not everyone has to like it as long as someone likes
it. In the next few pictures, you can see how I put the ends of my binding together. No rulers required.

Binding Ends - 2.5" overlap - RST

Has it ever happened to you that when you get to the end of the binding and trying to connect the two ends, you get it twisted? I did for about 18 out of 40 quilts. Now, I have this method down - Perfect.

1. Make sure that the ends overlap by 2.5 inches

2. Bring them together and place them right sides together, (see picture above)

3. Now turn the one on the right (near my thumb) by 90 degrees towards the edge of the quilt, while keeping them RST (see picture below)

Give a 90 degree turn to one, keeping them RST

4. Now, mark the one on the top, as shown in the picture below. 5. Pin in place and stitch. You have just connected the binding ends, without ruler, templates or a twist. Do a little happy dance.

Mark and Pin

Mauna's positive feedback encouraged me to finish this quilt.

Binding in process

Blame it on the early onset of spring or March Madness. Strawberry Salad + Pepto-Bismol Dressing is here to stay.

Completed!!!

It is kinda pretty in a messy way, I think.

Labelled

Finally, the clouds broke for just long enough that I could take a few pictures.

Backing rocks the Binding :-)

Isn't that grass just the perfect backdrop?

Thank you Mauna!!!

What do you think? Messy or Chic?Did someone else's opinion make you see something in a completely different perspective? I'd love to hear from you. I will be connecting with my favorite linky parties.

I totally agree with Mauna, this little quilt is chic. It's the perfect quilt for a little girl. And what makes it seem so chaotic and color crazy is probably what actually makes it a great quilt. This is a quilt a little girl can have a tea party on. It's for sleepy time snuggles and comfort when one doesn't' feel good. Some poor cat will probably be wrapped up baby style in it and forced to be held while she sings to it off key. This is a quilt 20 years from now the same little girl will smile at and remember all the fun times she had with it, pick it up and hug it just like she did when she was small. I'm pretty sure her first thought won't be, "all that pink, what where they thinking??" Show quilts are beautiful, eye catching and art, but a quilt like this one is the type of quilt that makes memories that last a life time. People will not be afraid to use it and love it. I'm glad you finished it. It's really a great quilt.

Cracking up at the name of your quilt! I love pink and think there could never be a case of too much pink!!! Some little girl will go ape over this quilt! I love your blog and your candor and humor!!! Keep up the great work!!!!:)

This is a great quilt! I agree with Mauna, some little girl will love this! Just think about all the time she'll spend looking at all the different fabrics while she's supposed to be napping. (And don't you hate that pink is now so identified with breat cancer? It's a shame for such a lovely color.)

Hehe. I feel your pain. I bought three of these scrap bags at one time. I got red, orange and yellow. Like you said, some of them are really pretty, but the rest, not so much, and they don't really go together well. But after looking at your quilt, maybe I can put them together and make something modern and chic with it. It is like one of those art pieces everyone tries to figure out. "Yes, she made it that way intentionally."

Preeti, my first impression was that this was a pretty quilt. As I read, I understood what was bothering you, but it still didn't make me dislike your quilt, even though your descriptions made me laugh. I agree with Mauna - stores like Urban Outfitters would snap up a quilt like this. It has that scrappy, vintagey vibe that appeals to so many people. I admire that you stuck with it!

"Not everyone has to like it as long as someone likes it." Those are some great words to quilt by! Everything you wrote about this quilt is true: the busyness, the way the patterns move against each other, the way your eye has no place to rest. And everything Mauna said is true, too. I like it.

I see quilts all the time that I think are really ugly, and listen carefully as others say how much they love them. Instagram comments full of little hearts and exclamation points. There are so many tastes in this world!

Kudos for pressing on and finishing it and sharing your process with us.

At first glance it surely is a quilt with a lot to say for itself, but Mauna is right. Who are we to say something is good and something is not, we all have different tastes which may not be mainstream but they are perfect for us, and that's ok. So you lovely quilt will be perfect for some beautiful unique individual who dares to be different. I wish I was more daring.SmilesKate

Ah yes, I think we've all been down that road, I have had a few projects lately that haven't come together as I had imagined! Glad you stuck with it. It's a very sweet little quilt, I know two little girls who would love it to bits!

Well, I'm back and forth on this quilt and I LIKE pink! Sometimes I agree with you, as in hot mess, because my eye can't find the block, but then when I see it on the grass, with the beautiful binding, I think yep, chic! Little girl will love the craziness of it! And um, I forgot you told me about the Hawthorne Threads scrap bags... You get so much done Preeti!

I think that the addition of a little turquoise was just right to settle this quilt down, so I'm thinking bohemian chic. I love the riot of patterns on patterns. And really any little girl (or girl at heart) who loves pink will love this quilt. I love Hawthorne's site, but somehow missed that they have scrap bags. Thanks for the tip! I think.

You had me at Strawberry Salad and then I saw the dressing! Oh my! It is adorable! Any little girl would love to have it! And Mauna's right, with yellow walls, perfect. For me, the hot pink dot gives your eye a place to rest. Glad you stuck with it! I know you are glad too!

I'm working on a blue quilt that needs a bit of Pepto...for me! Blue is my favorite color but I have so very much of it in my stash that I'm determined to use up enough for one quilt. I'm having some of your problems, but I'm going to try to push through. Since I'm making an improv quilt, I have to do a bit of pondering as well. I realized while reading your post that it's very likely I am just tired of the monochromatic color and perhaps someone (maybe even me) will love it. BTW I love your snappy title--that bit of humor at the onset really set me up to love the quilt and the writing...and you certainly came through on both!

This sweet quilt will make a little girl very happy. Good for you for not giving up and for bringing this to completion. I love the addition of the focal squares in the centers of the blocks. If I was not "feeling it", I would have cheeped out and chosen something I did not like to finish but your choice of backing and binding are perfect.

Oh I love your scrappy quilt, 'tis wonderfully scrap and oh-so-chic! We are always our worst enemies. There is a little girl out there who will think your pretty quilt wrapped up in a hug is the prettiest thing. This quilt will put a smile in her heart.

I thought the pattern was 3 rail fence, but I see you have a center block and that throws my guess out the window. How did you quilt it? Do you use a long arm?? I love the scallop design. Very nice!! And it's busy, but a little girl will love it to death!